Remakes, remakes remakes…but is it a different scenario when the director of an acclaimed foreign film signs on to remake his own movie for English-speaking audiences? That’s what’s happening with Terribly Happy, the dark, Coen Brothers-flavored Danish film that cleaned up at the major Bodil Awards in 2009 and is Denmark’s submission for the Foreign Language Oscar this year. Henrik Ruben Genz will remake his own film in English, giving him an opportunity to play with a bigger budget and take the story in new directions. Read More »

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers?